Rosen Sunshine at 2019 CNAR Annual Conference

Lonny Rosen and Elyse Sunshine just returned from the 2019 Canadian Network of Agencies for Regulation (CNAR) annual conference in Québec city. This is the premier conference for the regulatory community in Canada, attracting almost 600 delegates including executive, staff and committee members from regulators of a variety of professions, investigators and legal counsel. Rosen Sunshine was also a proud sponsor of the event.

In addition to networking with our colleagues in the regulatory law bar, we attended sessions on: workplace harassment; regulating disruptive technologies; top cases in regulatory law; sexual abuse; and honouring Truth and Reconciliation within a regulatory context. One panel discussion explored accommodating disability due to mental health/addiction while regulating the profession in the public interest, while another one covered the hot trends in professional regulation. A highlight was the keynote presentation by Dr. Brian Goldman (of the podcast White Coat Black Art) who spoke about the effective and ineffective use of shame in professional regulation – something that has particular relevance since the enactment, in the name of transparency, of a legislative requirement to publish more information about health professionals who are the subject of regulatory action short of referral to discipline.

We look forward to reflecting on what we learned at this conference and incorporating these lessons into our health and regulatory law practice.